April Planting Calendar

April gives a bit of a
reprieve from spring planting around here. Your cold weather
crops should have gone in already and your warm weather crops aren't
ready to hit the soil just yet. Here's our planting calendar for
April:

April 1 - 7:

Plant lettuce. You'll notice that I
plant fresh lettuce every month in the winter and early spring ---
that's the trick to sweet leaf lettuce without a hint of
bitterness. This is the first planting in the bare soil with no
protective cold frame.

Start tomatoes and peppers. Last year, I
discovered that my tomatoes grew much better in a cold frame than under
a grow light in the house, and this year I want to try peppers the same
way. Cold frame tomato seedlings are used to a bit of chilly
weather, have less transplant shock, and are never leggy.

April 8 - 14:

Take advantage
of this lull to start weeding
the garden in earnest. Tiny weeds sure are a lot easier to pull
before they put down taproots. (Or go out and look at the
wildflowers like the Rue Anemone here.)

April 15 - 21:

Set out your broccoli seedlings.

April 22 - 30:

If you haven't
already, take this week to prepare
the soil for the big May rush --- form your raised beds, add in
compost, etc.

Enjoy the peace and
quiet while it lasts --- the first of May brings gardening craziness.

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